On my doorstep..

Last Sunday, whilst escaping  the crazy multitude of tourists visiting Venice for Carnival, I bumped into "the most beautiful bookshop in the world", according to its very modest sign...



This little gem is only a few steps away from my "town house" but due to my "late in the evening/very early in the morning commuting" I never have time to wander around  :-(

As soon as you enter, you're greated by the very friendly owner and his big (and a bit scary) furry guardian....



It looks a bit messy inside, but wouldn't you fancy to help yourself from a full-sized gondola, instead of a boring shelf ?!

There's a labyrinth of interconnected rooms, along to bathtubs filled with books and sleeping cats you will find a doorway leading straight out onto a canal where the water level seems a precarious few centimeters away from spilling into the room (hence its name "Acqua Alta", high water).

You will also be invited to reach a a tiny quiet courtyard which hosts a staircase made entirely from books....

..and to climb up to the top for a lovely view onto the canal..... 

I didn't buy anything, just had a quick look at some intriguing books, prints and postcards but I'm planning to return soon with more time on my hands.

Sometimes it's nice to play tourist in your own town, isn't it?!

At last!

The title says all!!! 

It took me 3 years to meet up with Jill...why have I procrastinated for so long?????!!!!

This beautiful American lady lives in Venice and got in touch when my very first blog was still up and running...we kept wishing each other "Happy Birthday" or "Happy Holidays", always promising to meet up one day, but this never happened until last Saturday...

I must be honest and tell you it was my fault...my laziness to go downtown.. but now that I "commute" very often, I really had no excuse!!!

We had a fantastic afternoon together, escaping the humidity into a cafè and chatting and laughing like old friends for nearly two hours!

Words cannot describe how nice and friendly Jill is!!!
Another kind soul I had the chance to meet thanks to that magical place which Blogland is :-)

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!!!

The return of the wanderer..

One year later....well, here I am!

It has been a weird mixed year this one...
December and January were spent having fun with friends, February brought me a boyfriend and I flew to London for a girly weekend...

..where of course I had to catch up with my lovely friend Kelly and her family...

(sipping a  cup of tea and enoying a cupcake, at the Primrose Bakery in Notting Hill)

A romantic getaway to Prague in March....

(the beer is not mine, I just borrowed it LOL!)
 

In April I gave my parents a trip to Amsterdam, we stayed in a houseboat, cycled through the flowers fields and came home with 2 extra cases full of vintage stuff : /

 

In July another romantic getaway... to Lake Como

At the end of August a car trip to the lovely village of Rovinj/Croatia...

..And the first week of November was spent in New York..

..where I met up with my longtime buddy Juanita ..

(we almost got lost in Brooklyn while finding our direction to the flea market  and she brought me a generous huge bag of American treats! )

It could seem I've been holidaying all the time but this is only the bright side of life...

Family life has changed a lot since my grandad got stuck on a wheelchair last June...time off from work is spent trying to make his life as normal as possible and helping at home with cleaning , ironing, etc.....

I didn't even dare to blog again but some lovely bloggy friends have encouraged me to do it...

Not sure when next time will be, but it won't take so long, LOL!

 

 

Not so love-ly Venice..

Don't you just love when you're enjoying a yummy ice cream on a pretty terrace facing one of Venice's main canals.....

......and your neighbour looks like this???

...Never seen a pigeon beaking whipped cream in such a piggish way....

...Oh look...he's sharing it with his Valentine...............

I only hope my own glass had been sterilized properly..YUCK!!!
Sorry for spoiling the romance, ha ha!


(photos taken on 03.11.2012..outside air temperature 14°C)

Halloween in Dublin!

On Halloween Day I flew to Dublin....

The afternoon was spent strolling around this lovely city, hitting the main highlights...O'Connell Street and the Spire, Trinity College, Grafton Street....

...St. Stephen's Green, St.Patrick's Cathedral.....

...the Guinness Storehouse......

...the Old Jameson distillery.....

...Dublin Castle, the statue of Molly Malone.....

..a pub crawl through the Temple Bar area....

            

....(I had to please my male fellow traveller, LOL!)

..And then had a total blast taking a bus tour through the weird and wonderful events that have taken places in time gone by, unearthing legends and ghost from Dublin's past........

As you can see and read it was just a quickie, my flight was scheduled for the day after at 7.30 am, but I really made the most of my time!
I feckin loved it, LOL!

Milan in the sunshine this time!

I already took you to Milan once, but it was Winter and freezing cold...so what's better than a beautiful  and warm Saturday in September?

After a 2 hours' train trip and a short underground ride, I took a long walk through the city centre..... The picturesque area of Navigli....

...The Sforza Castle....

The Cathedral Square and its shopping arcade, La Scala (world renowned opera house) and last but not least Via della Spiga, one of the most prestigious and upscale shopping streets...

La Rinascente, sort if Italian Selfridges,where I had a refreshing break on its top floor and enjoyed the lovely view over the Cathedral....

..followed by a "Panzerotto", a pocket of dough filled with melted mozzarella chese and tomato sauce........3 different long  queues in front of the shop and people sit on the footpath biting into their twist of paper....could you believe this humble bakery had also a bodyguard?!

3 kilometers of shopping streets in the afternoon...I must confess you I couldn't wait to reach the train station, LOL!

I did buy myself only a leopardskin scarf...so empty-handed but full stomach, judging by the awful amount of sweets I had ........ 

Off to work magic for the 10 big blisters I got on my feet now! Ouch! :-)

Happy times!

I'm a bit overdue in posting a huge THANK YOU to my gorgeous friends Kelly, Sophie and James for coming to meet me twice during their long Italian holiday last July....

Despite some sickness due to the long drive and then to the altitude, we had a lovely day in the mountains, took a cable car and reached a farm at 1.897 meters....

..We enjoyed cooler air (Summer heat has been unbearable this year), some comfort food...

..and cakes of course! :-)

How nice to be able to chat with Sophie this time, she's growing so fast!!!

Then one afternoon they came over for a BBQ, joined by Kelly's parents, cousin and Italian uncle!
Sophie had fun meeting some of our pets..and it looked like she enjoyed  her food too! Never seen a 19 months old snapping at pork ribs as she did, bless her!

A great time was had by all... no matter the language...coz my garden is "a place where friends meet", as the title of this blog says!